Tuesday, November 22, 2016

I know, I know, November is two-thirds over already. It's snowing outside at the moment. But here's a look back at October.

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October 1st I met up with a great group of artists at Evansen Art Studio in Hastings, Minnesota to spend a day painting. In the evening the show was hung and there was a public reception. There were sure a lot of beautiful paintings and some of the them were featured in a silent auction at the Hastings Prescott Area Arts Council gala on November 4th.

Here are the two that I painted:

Another Season, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

Fruit on the Vine, 12 x 9" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

As the daylight hours became fewer, I didn't often get out to paint, or have long to work when I did. But I just love the light and color of this time of year, so it was good to get out and soak it in. This is a smaller painting, so I could try to capture those gorgeous lines and colors in a short time before sunset on October 17th.

Pastures in October, 6 x 8" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

October 22: Time to get out into the woods. These back-lit birch trees caught my eye, with the golden poplars in the background, and all the wild asters that had gone to seed lit up with the low sun.

Some cattle broke through a fence somewhere and came up behind me and stared. They weren't impressed.

October 24: Another race against the sunset! I never tire of those curving fields with their varying colors and textures. Many of the trees in the woods had already lost their leaves, but the aspens and oaks still were a sight to behold with their vibrant yellows and rusty reds.

Late October Color, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/birch panel.

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I've only been out once so far this month, on November 4th. I painted quickly, as the light and shadows changed as the sun sank down beyond the neighboring bluffs, and the girl tending the fire didn't hold still. But it was one of those clear-sky days, with the smell of fallen leaves, and perfect for a little campfire supper.

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About Me

I am a self-taught artist living and working in rural southeastern Minnesota. Working in oils and watercolour, my work is a study of place, time, and season.
I love the place where I live; as familiar as the back of my hand, yet never the same two days in a row. I draw a lot of inspiration from my local area.
I enjoy the challenge of plein air painting, and the way it encourages taking a closer look, to more fully take in what might otherwise go unnoticed. My plein air paintings, done outdoors on location, usually within 2 to 3 hours, attempt to capture the fleeting and changing view of a particular place and time as I see it.
My studio works, supported by plein air studies, memories, emotion, and imagination, are built up through a lot of time and layers of paint and allow me to work in more detail.
In all my work, I try to capture the beauty I see in the simple, everyday blessings, in faces and events, subtle and breathtaking, convinced that, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (James 1:17)